by L. L. Ash
“Yes. I know about Maggie. What happened?”
“He’s doesn’t want to claim her.”
Calix looked shocked.
“What? She’s his mate.”
“And he doesn’t want her.”
“But she’s pregnant.”
Leon and I looked at him wide eyed.
“Does he…?” I started but both the men nodded.
I growled.
“The freaking asshole!” I shouted, hands fisting so I wouldn’t hit something.
Calix put out his hand and urged me to go to him. I stomped over and plopped into his lap in a way that would have injured a normal man.
“Hush now. We will deal with Ariston,” he told me gently as he stroked a hand over my head.
I sighed and immediately felt the anger draining out of me. How did those hands that had been coated with blood twice in the last 24 hours give me such complete comfort?
“Bring him to me,” Calix told his brother.
“He left,” Leon frowned. “As he said, to party and drink and fuck.”
Calix looked up as if asking for strength.
“Have him brought home. Bring him to me.”
“Before I go, Cali,” Leon said in a quieter voice. “He said that he...loves Lily. That she is his loved mate.”
“Ariston is young and dramatic. She was never his mate and only had her for a short time. He doesn’t know what love is to feel it for anyone, even Lily. His loved mate is still out there, if Maggie is not it.”
“What do we do with him?”
“We force him to grow up a little and keep what is his. Maggie is his mate now, he had better get used to the idea. And we will ensure he treats her correctly.”
“Like you did me?” I asked him in a quiet voice.
“Like my father did me,” he corrected. “I did not treat you as I should have and my father set me to rights. That and I almost lost you to my brother.”
“What the hell are you all talking about?” Leon asked confused.
“I treated Lily worse than shit when she came here. She was taken to Greece with Bampás, Nyx and Ariston. They had a fling and I brought her back here. I don’t blame her at all for it. I deserved it.”
“But Ariston fell for her?”
“Ariston fell in lust with her. He would not have been capable of moving on as he has were he to actually love her.”
“Who said he has moved on?” Leon shot back.
“What do you suggest, Leo?” Calix raised a brow. “He has dug his own grave with this, on both counts.”
“Why are you being so heartless toward him?”
“Because I will not give him what he wants. I will not believe he is in love with my woman.”
“There it is.” Leon nodded.
A moment later he saw himself out. Calix typed into his phone for a second before moving me off his lap and into my chair.
Not a minute later Nyx entered without knocking.
“What is it,” she asked with false annoyance.
The grin on her face gave her away.
“What are you grinning about, sister?” Calix sat back in his chair, looking at her inquisitively.
“Oh Cali, I’ve not been so well sexed in decades. I forgot the stamina of youth!”
He rolled his eyes before waving his hand around.
“I need you to answer a question,” he changed subjects. “I need you to tell me how Ariston was in Greece after Lily left.”
She frowned.
“How do you expect him to have been?”
“I want to know how he was. Did he mope? Did he cry? Did he party or act out?”
“No, he didn’t do any of those things. Well, he did mope. But mostly he was quiet. He wasn't interested in a lot of things. Not that he made a big deal about it, he just...didn’t want to do anything.”
“He was depressed?”
“I suppose. Maybe. He didn’t open up to me. He didn’t open up to anyone.”
“I don’t have time to deal with this right now...” Calix sighed, pinching his nose and closing his eyes. “A schoolboy crush is the least of my worries.”
“It was far more than a schoolboy crush, Cali, and you know that. Whether you want to admit it or not. Lily knows it too.”
His jaw clenched as yet another person entered the room.
“My Lord. The werewolf is here.”
“Fuck...” Calix murmured in annoyance but Nyx was already gone.
A large man was led into the room, dark, loose curls spilling into his eyes and over his ears. Emerald green eyes flicked back and forth as he assessed the room.
“You will bow, beast,” Thomas whispered harshly.
“So you’re the new king Drakos?” he asked, voice low and husky.
“I am.” Calix tilted his head to the man, looking at him like he were a curiosity.
“I won’t bow,” he said to Thomas behind him. “A king doesn’t bow to a king.”
Thomas sputtered and his mouth twisted in anger until Calix held up a hand.
“He’s right,” Calix agreed and waved to the chair across him at the desk.
The man sat and leaned back, getting comfortable. He held none of the fear vampires held in Calix’s presence.
“We’ll pretend for a moment that your version of king is akin to mine.” Calix looked amused and the man’s eyes narrowed on him.
“I apologize. Where are my manners? My mate, Lily.” Calix motioned to me and the man shot his eyes toward me. They widened a little as he assessed me.
“She looks like Addie,” he said in a low, gravelly tone.
“Uncanny, isn’t it?”
“Fucking creepy.” At that he looked at Calix again before adding, “Why am I here, vamp?”
“You may not have to bow to me, boy, but you will respect me. Watch your tone.”
The man heaved a breath and let it out slowly before nodding.
“Sure. Sorry. No disrespect meant.”
“I saved your life, Eddie. I consider that a favor being owed to me.”
His mouth lifted in a snarl before flattening again.
“What’s the favor?” Eddie the werewolf asked.
“I’ve got an enemy that I’m...removing. But there are a few I’d like taken alive. I want you and your men to retrieve them for me.”
“Who?”
“The Dorian brothers.”
“How the fuck do you think we’re going to do that?” Eddie laughed. “Their hideouts are protected by a hundred vamps, at least. We may be strong but we’re not one to one strong. You know that. That would be suicide.”
“I wouldn’t send you in alone, pup. No reason to get upset.”
Eddie snarled again before shoving his hands through his hair, briefly showing little black gauges in his ears.
“I thought the kiss you took was repayment?” he said finally, dropping his arms again.
“That was her repayment. Yours will be a lot more expensive. Hers was only a human life, yours is, as you insist, a king’s life.”
Eddie dipped his head again, a string of expletives rolling out of his mouth before sitting up again, his face steeled.
“Fine. Where? And when?”
“I’ll send a messenger soon. Stay ready. It will be promptly.”
Eddie stood, the meeting over.
“And beasty,” Calix called as he headed for the door.
“I’m tired of your fucking nicknames, vamp.”
“I only wish to ask you if she was worth it. Falling in love with another man’s woman… It’s difficult business.”
“She was worth every fucking second. Still is.”
With that he left, slamming the door behind him.
“What the heck?” I asked, looking at him. “Love who?”
“Our werewolf friend finds himself in a similar position as our Ariston. He is in love with the human who is already claimed by a vampire. An unrequited love.”
“And what does he mean a kiss? Who did you kiss?”
Calix turned to me then.
“The human girl. I wanted to know if I could sense something different about her. Her smell, her taste. See if I could find it again in another human.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I wanted to see if I could detect any way to identify another of her kind, since you forbid me from kidnapping her.”
“Fine, whatever.” I pouted.
I would have to get used to the thought of him kissing other people.
“Lily,” he said in a whisper, his voice suddenly a lot gentler.
“What?” I asked back, seeing the apology already in his eyes.
“I’ve...there is a pool already gathered for my next mate. I’ll need to sort through them soon.”
“You mean you’ll need a night of crazy hot sex with a unnumbered amount of women?”
He sighed, his fingers going back to squeezing the bridge of his nose.
I stood, heading toward the door.
“I’ll do it tonight.”
“I’ll stay out of our room.”
“I won’t be there. I’ve set up a seperate space for that. Our room is only ours and will continue to be only ours.”
I nodded, reaching for the handle.
“And Lily...”
“Hmm?”
“Ariston...I leave him in your hands. Do as you see is...necessary.”
He grimaced as if he didn’t like the words as he said them.
“What do you mean, necessary?” I paused with the door half open.
“I mean do what you think is necessary to kill this infatuation. He has built up a romantic fantasy of you. Do what you must, but kill it.”
For a second my heart fluttered, then it dove.
Closing the door I turned to him.
“You mean have sex with him.”
“I mean do what you must.” He ground his teeth.
The conversation was pissing him off, but he wasn’t the only one.
“Whatever happened to no P in V?”
“My brother hurting your sister, that’s what happened.”
Calix leaned forward, leaning his elbow against the table.
“Please don’t use our bed, and bathe after.”
His words hit me as callus, but I knew what they had cost him. When he didn’t look up, I left the room in a huff.
How dare he? What the hell was he thinking? That quick he was ready to pass me off to use my vagina to manipulate. Would this happen often? Was it only because of Maggie? Or was he feeling guilty and thought I secretly wanted Ariston?
Whatever he thought, he was wrong. But this infatuation did need to stop. Maggie deserved a partner, not a vindictive master. I would make a bargain and we would both get our ways.
“Thomas,” I called as I left Calix’s office.
“Yes Mistress?”
“When Ariston arrives, send him to find me. Make sure he does.”
“Yes Mistress,” he said again, looking a little confused but he obeyed.
He was very good at obeying.
Stopping a servant down the hall, she helped me get a pile of pillows and blankets from a cart before I headed down a long hall. I entered into the tiny room with the huge spiral staircase that led up. It was relatively quiet and out of the way. Our activities wouldn’t likely be heard by the ever present vampire ears here. And that’s how I wanted it to stay.
Chapter Twenty
It took a little while to assemble the comforters and sheets with pillows around. I lay in the pile and it was rather comfortable, even over the stone floors.
I laid there for some time. It must have been an hour or two as I dozed in and out of sleep before the door opened slowly.
“What is this?” Ariston’s voice floated over me as I roused.
Blinking slowly, I sat up and tried to remember what he was talking about.
Oh yes, the love nest I was currently napping in.
“I have a deal for you, Ari,” I said slowly. “This, what’s going on…it has to stop.”
He stood there, watching me from the door for a moment before closing it and stepping closer.
“What deal?”
“A deal to prove you do not love me. A deal that protects my sister, and you.”
He looked at me wearily.
“What deal, Lil?”
“One night. You can have me, whatever you want, for one night. You will see that I’m not what you think I am. We had fun, we were human and stupid. It’s what we do.”
“Calix would kill me with his bare hands.”
“Calix is otherwise engaged looking for another mate. Besides, he sanctioned this. He gave me all discretion to do what I think is best. This is what I think is best.”
He took another step forward then stopped.
“What do you want in return?” he asked now.
Smart guy.
“I want you to treat my sister with respect. Whether you love her or not, she loves you. Treat her with kindness. She’s carrying your child, for God’s sake.”
Ariston gulped.
“It’s no hardship to treat her kindly. She’s a sweet girl, if not feisty.”
“She’s a lot more feisty than you think. If we do this, come morning you go and find her, and you do whatever it takes to make your asshole-ness up to her. Understood?”
“Yes Mistress,” he said with a little smile.
“Good. Now what’ll it be, Ari?”
“Anything?” he asked, his voice gravel.
“Anything. I’m sure enough in my conviction that you’ll understand.”
He stood there a good five seconds, staring before kicking off his black leather boots. His shirt whipped up a moment later before he stepped onto the blankets, pausing with his feet flanking my sides, staring down at me.
“The whole night?”
“Until sunrise.”
He dropped to his knees over me, hand raking into my hair.
“While you try to convince me I don’t love you, I will try to convince you that you love me.”
“Do what you have to.” I shrugged and his face lowered, just a hair’s breadth away before his lips were pressed against mine.
“This is where you belong, Lil,” he groaned breathily into my lips.
“It’s not, Ari,” I breathed back, my heart hammering in my chest, rebelling.
“I can hear you now, Lil. I can hear you and smell you and sense you… I feel your heart pumping, your breath heaving...”
He gave me another passionate kiss before stopping to look me in the eyes.
“I see everything differently, and you can’t deny you want me.”
“I lust for you, Ari. I don’t love you. I love Calix.”
“What does he have that I don’t?” He looked hurt.
“My heart. It’s that simple.”
He shook his head in tiny little jerking movements before taking my lips again, inhaling me.
My eyes closed as he opened my lips with his, tongue quickly reacquainting itself with mine.
The feeling, being with him, was familiar and comforting. Oddly, it felt good.
His hand found the back of my head and he held me to him as he ravaged my mouth. I returned his kisses with my own gusto, surprised at how easy it was to receive him sexually while I thought of Calix in the back of my mind. Maybe it was the man I kissed while he fed, or maybe it was the past we had, or even that I knew Calix was busy having sex with other people too. No matter, I was fully ready to give myself entirely over for the evening. He must have sensed it.
Letting go of my hair, he pulled the strap of my tank top over my shoulder, moving his hand to the floor so he could lift the other and repeat the action. Head dipping, he nibbled my neck and down my chest to pull my top down and take a breast in his mouth. He bit and licked and sucked until I was squirming to be released, but he just moved down.
Teeth grazing my belly, he pulled my pants down, hardly stopping to unlatch the button of my jeans before tearing down my
panties. He closed his eyes and inhaled.
“Now I know your true essence,” he murmured before dipping his head down.
I cried out the moment his tongue hit me, my hips bucking up from the sensation.
He teased me until I was calling out, clamping down on air as I throbbed, my first orgasm in days rolling through me.
“You’ve become more vocal,” he observed as his mouth found mine again.
Tasting myself on his lips was gross, but erotic. He thrust his tongue into my mouth and mine stroked his back as he settled his knees between my legs.
“Tell me you want me,” he whispered. “Tell me you need me, Lily.”
“I want you, Ari. I don’t need you.”
“Well I need you,” he growled, suddenly pressing into me.
When he’d lost his pants, I had no idea, but his erection was sinking in and my eyes rolled into the back of my head in ecstasy.
Slipping in and out, his hand grasped a breast, pulling the nipple and shooting bolts of electricity down my belly to my core. It wept for him, though it wasn’t overwhelming like being with Calix. I finally understood what he meant when he said mates were more satisfied with their mates. But damn if it didn’t feel good…
After a minute he pulled out and gathered one of my legs, folding it, knee to chest before shouldering it and pumping back in. The different angle had me gasping. I could feel the head grinding against something inside me, shooting sparks every time he thrust. Soon I was crying again, tears slipping down my cheeks as my incredible orgasm rolled over me. Ariston pumped a few more times before he grunted, dropping his forehead to mine, still squishing his shoulder into my leg which made it a little hard to breathe.
“Don’t tell me you don’t feel that,” he gasped out. “Don’t tell me that wasn’t amazing.”
“Of course it was. You are a great lover, Ari. That’s nothing new to you.”
“It’s more than that...”
“It’s only that,” I reminded him and he closed his eyes, let my leg go but stayed close to me, chest against chest.
“And it’s better with Maggie, isn’t it?” I managed, trying to gain my breath again.
He didn’t answer.
He moved one leg over mine before slipping an arm around me and turning us over until I was in his arms on our sides, entangled.
I refrained from speaking as he pressed his face into my chest, my breast a pillow. I sank into deep contentment as I laid there in post-orgasmic bliss, the world settling around me, leaving me sleepy.